Some restaurant guests are so obnoxious that it takes a little creative teamwork to send them packing.

What would you do if you watched a diner berate the staff, send food back repeatedly, and make everyone else’s meal miserable? Would you mind your business? Or would you step in on behalf of the staff and help out?

In the following story, one parent deals with this exact situation and decides to let her baby have some fun. Here’s what she did.

Rude Dinner Left in a Hurry

Many years ago, my mother, my son (who was still in a highchair), and I were finishing our meal at a local restaurant.

A couple came in and caught our attention when they moved tables for the second time. In the next few minutes, the male returned his coffee twice, ordered his meal in fastidious detail, and demanded a third coffee replacement.

We started to get up to leave when I heard him complain about his meal and sent it back to the kitchen along with his coffee, again. He then harangued the wait staff for, in his opinion, their slow, incompetent service. All the while, his wife/girlfriend tried to mollify him, looking mortified.

Here’s where a baby came to the rescue.

In unspoken agreement, we sat back down.

I gave my son a metal spoon and mimed banging our cutlery on the table. Of course, he followed suit, banging his spoon on the metal tray. The man complaining loudly got up, threw money on the table, and the couple left.

When we left a few minutes later, we got a heartfelt thank-you note on our receipt, and two of the wait staff thanked us for having such a well-behaved baby. 😉

Wow! What a nice gesture from these ladies!

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit have to say about rude diners.

This person is sarcastic.

No one is letting her live down that typo.

Here’s a funny take.

Great question.

People like him are the worst! It’s nice to hear that this mother stood up for the employees.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.